lis smith campaign manager

So it was just sort of the perfect confluence of all these things where that yin and yang dynamic got us together. UChicago Institute of Politics (IOP) Meet the DNC dark horse: Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg is shaking up the race for Democratic chair, added Salon. Over a tumultuous two decades in politics, Lis Smith has seen a thing or two. But in our party, it seems the only people we ever talk about are members of Congress and senators. I, in those races, became extremely battle-tested. Pete's 2020 campaign manager and now chairman of the Indiana Democrats, that my dream project would be to take off . I romanticize it. Her phone is literally exploding. There is a top political reporter for a major national newspaper apologizing for blowing off a meeting with Buttigieg earlier and trying to get one now, asking Smith, Will you ever forgive me?. Now that they have achieved liftoff, as it were, Smith is preparing for the next part of the campaign. A lot of people people whose opinion you respect told you that you were nuts when you chose to work for Pete. None of those races were particularly easy. Her plan is to emulate maybe the best-known and most successful insurgent move of recent campaign history: John McCains 2000 Straight Talk Express. [11] Smith, who worked as a spokesperson for the PAC since her hire in 2013, then transitioned to the role of deputy campaign manager. Inside the Shrinking Newsroom of the Paper That Shapes the PrimariesBy Tim Alberta. A photo and audio tour of the hosts driving the conversation. He doesnt yell and scream, take the most extreme positions on issues, or tweet incendiary things. And it was a running joke between us: I was like, I cant listen to you talk about smart sewers one more time, or I will lose my mind. He loves that stuff. She had served as a senior aide on OMalleys 2016 bid and with the Maryland governor when he was head of the Democratic Governors Association. Weve got that Joey Burrow swag, but he does have humility to him. Buttigieg has gotten a number of lavish long-form features, so many that some have jokingly wondered whether Smith is getting paid by the profile. Smith: All the good candidates are comfortable in their own skin. What else was the oppo they were dropping? I figured he was special and it couldnt hurt if everybody knows who he is.. Smiths Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story, out July 19, is an irreverent, intimate and honest look behind the curtain of modern political image-making including her own. We knew the McKinsey stuff would be it, but he was bound by an NDA. Even people like Terry McAuliffe and Claire McCaskill, who both have outsized personalities. In a crisis, the most important thing to do is to pause, to take a step back and get all the facts, and game out your response. ), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo. She led Buttigieg on a series of one-on-one meetings over beer, coffee, lunch or cigars with what used to be known as the Gang of 500those reporters, producers and pundits who shape much of the nations political coverage. He's on his way into a black car to do Maddow. 01 May 2023 02:06:06 There is only so much you can do to bare your soul over a beer, but hopefully people get to know you on some level and more than they would one gaggle at a time. Hold on, Im sorry. This 35-Year-Old Mayor From Indiana Is Wowing National Democrats The New Republic declared. . Bill de Blasio, too. Eight hundred have showed up. Now more than ever, people are seeing politics touch everything in our lives. After the fundraiser, Buttigieg is going to rush off to 30 Rock to do Maddow, then in the morning New Day on CNN, and then fly to Iowa, then do Morning Joe when hes back. When you do more interviews, it reduces that gotcha instinct with the press, it reduces that cat and mouse game. [8] On the de Blasio campaign, Smith worked with campaign manager Bill Hyers, the campaign manager for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. Maybe a story that would be 80-20 bad you can get down to 60-40 bad, and that little bit is worth it.. I want people to know what its like behind the scenes. Lis Smith was just a college student when she worked on her first political campaign. With Bill de Blasio, that was a different situation. Smith marched him to the front of where the national and New York press were gathered, telling him, Are you ready for your first gaggle? He stayed until the matter was exhausted. Because 2015 and 2016 were really difficult times in my life. Axelrod told Buttigieg about Smith, and OMalley told Smith about this young mayor from South Bend. So many flacks lose their mind over inconsequential things, and have no sense of, This is good press, this is mediocre press, and this is awful press. That is something you know once you have been through awful press., As a flack, you dont always understand what it feels like to be a principal, what it feels like to be under scrutiny. Mistakes that Ive made with media. Smith managed communications for de Blasio throughout the campaign and in his transition to office; she was slated to do the same when de Blasio took office. Smith, standing behind Buttigieg as he campaigns at various events in New York this April. Shes a Black half-South-Indian woman. But until they released him from the NDA, we just didnt get his clients. And when I began asking around to figure out who was behind that strategy, the same name kept coming up: Lis Smith. Seeing how Pete cuts through with people and what a truly effective messenger hes become for the Democratic Party, it makes you realize: Theres not just one Mayor Pete. For a complete timeline of Buttigieg's campaign activity, click here. | Now, I understand that sounds completely sick. She has extensive experience in public affairs, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national levels. [The vice presidency] is probably the toughest, most thankless job in Washington D.C. Click here to contact our editorial staff, and click here to report an error. Shortest-ever serving Prime Minister Liz Truss is locked in a row over missing dressing gowns from a country estate where she planned her tilt at Number 10. It was a slim path. She is practically shaking with excess energy. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. Tech: Matt Latourelle Ryan Burch Kirsten Corrao Beth Dellea Travis Eden Tate Kamish Margaret Kearney Eric Lotto Joseph Sanchez. And they all lack humility. Letting Terry be Terry. We met at the Roxy Hotel in Tribeca. Smith ended up dropping most of her other clients, politicians and nonprofits alike. Its just a personal part of my book. So many flacks lose their mind over inconsequential things, and have no sense of, This is good press, this is mediocre press, and this is awful press. That is something you know once you have been through awful press.. That maybe once he double-dipped his fry at Barnabys? He adds, "The goal is to assemble a team of top talent that can work together effectively to mobilize resources, boost the candidate and his or her message, and ultimately secure the party's nomination. Research: Josh Altic Vojsava Ramaj The most important thing is theres no one way to be a Democrat no matter what any of these lefty groups in Washington say, and we cannot expect candidates in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and Ohio and Arizona and North Carolina to check off every box on the progressive party purity test. During the campaign, Forbes considered her one of "the essential people to follow on Twitter," saying:[5], The New York Times noted that Smith's rapid response tweets "were a big reason that the campaign was able to define Mitt Romney before he could define himself."[4]. He stood out obviously because of his height, but he was one of those guys that was almost overly enthusiastic about knocking on doors and making phone calls, to the point that everyone else around the office sort of rolled their eyes. Now a veteran Democratic strategist, Smith is the woman credited with propelling the . Can I tell you something very off the record, she texts. As voters look for someone who can beat Trump, the fact that the press corps appears to vouch for this curious character, a young liberal red-state mayor, means that voters can give him a second look too. Politics has a bias toward the status quo, she says. Smith: One of the things Ive learned over my time in politics is that youve got to let your candidates be themselves. I would do that for free.). Your knowledge of the process? From her days as a college intern for John Edwards to her own brush with the New York tabloids, the book traces her entertaining path to the height of the American political consultant class. Wren: Much has been made about Trump Derangement Syndrome this idea that, true or not, he scrambles rational political responses from otherwise reasonable people. Gharavi is a BAFTA and Sundance-nominated filmmaker. Id worked for former [Former Maryland Gov.] She puts the word fuck through every part of speech the word can be bent into: noun, pronoun, gerund, verb, term of endearment, sobriquet, epithet, honorific. Through the DNC race and afterward, Smith treated the national political press like it was another constituency that needed to be courted. Smith, the famously aggressive political operative battle-honed in the brass knuckles politics of New York City and in red-state political tilts, plotted the rollout of Buttigiegs longshot presidential campaign. Lis Smith Retweeted. They have one man to thank. Not to be cheesy, but it is one of my proudest accomplishments. It also includes each staff member's position in the campaign, previous work experience, and Twitter handle, where available. Buttigieg recently started getting savaged online when it surfaced that he had told an audience in 2015 that all lives matter, and as it happened, he was due to speak at Al Sharptons annual National Action Network convention. It gives me so much joy when I sit down for a Zoom with Mallory McMorrow which is supposed to be 15 minutes and it turns into two hours, and I get goosebumps again. I think we saw that Kamalas attack on Biden was obviously was pretty pointed. Hes someone who is very special to me, and I hope hes always a part of my life. It was a long shot. Wren: How is the Lis Smith depicted in this book different from the Lis Smith in the popular political imagination? } I am a liberal Democrat, but I was so into the McCain thing. Its that everyday when I go into work to try and get these people elected its because it will impact lives. I dont know if that delegate from Oklahoma is going be reading the Elle.com profile, but a lot of people are, and they should get to know Pete Buttigieg, she says. He announced he was running for the Democratic presidential nomination on January 23, 2019, and formally kicked off his campaign on April 14, 2019. It was younger reporters, super-hungry reporters that really know how to use Twitter, people who can then go to a cocktail party and tell their friends they had a beer with this guy Pete Buttigieg three hours from now. I was blindly ambitious, versus blindly loyal, and where the shiny object of being a New York City press secretary was more alluring to me that I was willing to overlook his very clear deficiencies. Pete was completely different. And the fact that hes everywhere, from cable TV to Ebony to your local NPR show to your favorite sports podcast, means that a guy with no name recognition is suddenly hard to avoid. Petes hitting at this moment in part because of the legwork they did. Click here. In the car, wed go back and forth on random trivia, and pulling up things on Google. Weve seen a lot of cataclysmic things happen. How do you think the decline of local news has affected campaigns? Terry McAuliffe, and President Barack Obama, Lis Smith is finally flacking for Lis Smith. He looked white as a ghost, didnt say anything, just nodding along. And especially on far-leftist DSA Twitter, Im basically just depicted as a mix between Lady Macbeth and Rasputin in a wig, that Im like some soulless political operatives. | And it drives me crazy because you see the Republican Party elevating governors left and right, like Ron DeSantis or Kristi Noem. Wren: Lets talk about another Cincinnatian: Joey Burrow, your Bengals politically outspoken quarterback. After 20 campaigns flacking for candidates such as Transportation Secretary and former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, former Virginia Gov. Its about getting to know people and them getting to know you, Buttigieg says when I see him after the Brooklyn fundraiser, where he at least pretends to recall our earlier meeting and what we talked about. Dont miss it! I am humbled and flattered and appreciative of when people recognize the hard work I put in on our media strategy, and the fact that we employed a media strategy that was radically different from everyone else in the field. It is my passion. Not possible, Smith says. What I realized from my time working in politics is how much mystery there still is around this industry. Not surprisingly, her politics are establishment liberal. "Joe Biden has had one of the most successful. Her debut, "I Am Nasrine" was nominated for a BAFTA in 2013. ", Before they get in the car, I ask Buttigieg if Smith is being helpful in his campaign. The entire time Buttigieg has pitched himself as a unifier, Lis Smith has been right by his side. The more people see Bill de Blasio, the less they like him. You couldnt have pulled off that strategy with a Bill de Blasio. What do all the good candidates youve worked for have in common, and what do the bad candidates have in common? Pete Buttigieg's 38-year-old ex-campaign manager and childhood pal is telling Democrats how they can win back rural America . [10] O'Malley announced his presidential run on May 30, 2015. And yet you signed on anyway. Wren: You and Pete have very different brands. Smith also gets points for interacting. 27 Apr 2023 19:44:36 But there may be no political couple odder than that of Buttigieg and Smith. They also build organizations in individual states that are overseen by state directors and staffed by party activists and political professionals well-versed in the particular politics of the area. But I understand that what I do isnt just a game. Theyre just not looking in the right places. Lis Smith is a Democratic campaign communications specialist and co-founder of 50 State Communications in New York. CNN's Dana Bash speaks to Senior Political Commentator and former Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, former Buttigieg campaign adviser Lis Smith, CNN Political Commentator David Urban and CNN . She has a 3-day-old copy of the New York Post in her bag. If Im going to be honest about other people and their shortcomings, its really important for me to be honest about myself and my own shortcomings, Smith told me. Im horrified. Obama had David Axelrod. Click here. Our meeting was part of a strategy, one run with surprising sophistication and efficacy for a candidate whose highest-profile gig so far is a local office in the fourth-biggest city in Indiana. Candidates often appoint elected officials and other important figures in their party's coalition as chairs of their national campaign and state-level campaigns.[1]. This is so funny, because I was just saying to Mike Schmuhl, Pete's 2020 campaign manager and now chairman of the Indiana Democrats, that my dream project would be to take off an entire year and go to the big Democratic fundraising dinner in all 50 states. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. But as long as its just like that one percent that you need to have the confidence that you can go out and rally thousands of people, and that its just that 1 percent and not 70 percent, then its all good. How much of his success was because of you, and how much was because of him? We are humble and kind, to quote Tim McGraw. I cant believe you didnt know that! POLITICO Weekend flies into inboxes every Friday. Liz Smith, shown here keeping crowds under control during Elliot Spitzer's campaign to become New York City Controller, is entitled to her privacy and dignity. He was out there. | James Devaney/GC Images. And its something that forever Ill be thankful to him for. But you know, more importantly, through some trial and error, over this very long career, I learned the importance of letting candidates be candidates, right? Maybe somewhere an 18-year-old girl like me can pick up my book and can learn something from it about how you work with candidates, how you work with the media, how you deal with crisis, and also learn from my mistakes. Here are links to the candidates' staff pages: Campaign staff plays an important role in the presidential primaries. Its about hustling for opportunities. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. .circle { [3] Buttigieg received the most pledged delegates in the Iowa caucuses . But I love politics because it touches everything in our lives. He didnt feel the need to go out there and be the coolest guy or the hippest guy on stage. We just had the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Buttigieg campaigns in Iowa shortly after officially announcing his bid for the Democratic nomination for president. You write: Here we go said Larry Grisolano, Petes media consultant, stating the obvious. I know of one person in particular who said you were making a catastrophic career mistake working for a total nobody. She most recently served as the Deputy Campaign Manager for Martin Adam Wren: In the beginning, you scored the contract for this book based on your high-profile turn as a senior communications adviser to Pete Buttigieg. After the fundraiser, Smith and Buttigieg climb into an SUV and head to 30 Rock. Terry McAuliffe and former Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill, and mostly survived the cauldron of New York politics, working on both ends of the long-simmering feud between former New York Gov. Smith: Im not going to touch that with a 10-foot pole. Buttigiegs rise from unlikeliest of contenders to actual top-tier presidential candidate has been fueled in part, maybe in large part, by his astonishing success courting the press. Do you think the lack of in-person events hurt them later on in building a relationship with the eventual White House press corps? I think thats probably the biggest misconception about me. She doesnt give a fuck. Everyone thought I was crazy. | Smith is a fierce New York City-based Democratic operative who helped engineer the plan to get Buttigieg in front of not just national political reporters, but anybody with a camera or microphone. [1] She was the deputy campaign director for Martin O'Malley's 2016 presidential campaign. In 2016 she was deputy campaign manager for Martin O'Malley, the Democratic governor of Maryland who ran for the White House. That is not how she ran his race. But another thing is that Im not someone whos just worked in New York. And no, politics is my love. He wrote a paper praising Bernie Sanders at Harvard? 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They have grown to like and trust each other. They feel like if they dont respond within two minutes, that the crisis is going to fester. And it makes it especially difficult for challengers. The table below shows the candidate's 2020 early primary state directors and state communications directors. What the decline of local media means is that the way that voters will get their information about candidates will come increasingly from paid media, from mail pieces and TV ads, and we all know that is not where you get the full truth. Wren: You write pretty transparently in the book about times youve been fooled by a candidate. Smith earned plaudits in the 2020 campaign for her work as Pete Buttigieg's communications advisor. There were, Smith guesses, probably 150 such meetings with the national press corps, and when he traveled across the country, speaking to local county party dinners and fundraisers across the Midwest and Great Plains, they would make time for one-on-ones with the local political press there, too. 'Given how hectic both their work and travel schedules are, they decided a few weeks ago to take a break in their relationship,' Linden told NY . I worked in politics nine years before I ever moved to New York. | Scott Olson/Getty Images, Lis has an insurgent mentality, said Axelrod, a top aide for both of President Obamas campaigns. Because he was a badass. Eric Appleman of Democracy in Action describes candidates' efforts to hire staffers as a "race for talent, both nationally and in key early states." We tend to think of younger politicians as either captive to the very far left or the very far right, but there is a whole crop of younger elected officials across the country that aren't on the extreme, and that can relate to the majority of voters. And maybe I shouldve gone to law school. Eliot Spitzer]. Smith said McCaskill chose to campaign aggressively in rural counties, which likely contributed to her narrow win over Talent. Smith: Mayor Pete is where Mayor Pete is now because Mayor Pete is just one of the most uniquely talented members of the Democratic Party. If you could just attend town board and county legislature meetings for a year, what are the intangible qualities you'd be looking for in scouting candidates? But there's no doubt that there is no substitute for being in a scrum, and for having a traveling press corps with you every day, lobbing questions at you. Smith: One of the reasons I wanted to write this book was because when I was thinking at 19 or 20 about getting into this world, [a book like this] didnt exist. Hes going to sound so elitist. Or: Why does he have to answer every question with a proverb? Voters can smell when candidates are being authentic, and when candidates are not. It wasnt an ideal situation, but it taught me a lot, Smith says. The bad candidates are people who are insecure, who put their finger in the wind, who dont trust their instincts enough and dont have the backbone to do the right things. There may be nobody more central to Mayor Petes media successbesides the candidate himself, and arguably his social-media-savvy husband, Chasten Buttigiegthan Smith, who serves as a communications adviser and all-around aide. Her new book, "Any Given Tuesday: A Political Love Story," goes behind the scenes of her time with some of the nation's most powerful Democratic lawmakers, sometimes in the midst of spiraling crises. Why? About Lis Smith Liswho has worked on over a dozen political campaigns has extensive experience in public affairs campaigns, media relations, and crisis communications at the local, state and national level. Democratic strategist Lis Smith, who served as the senior communications director for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, believed Christine Blasey Ford was . Jeff Smith, her former boyfriend, recalls one time when he was running for office, his campaign managers phone rang. Were just not looking for them. But there have been a few times when Ive been around him when I knew something, a factoid or something he didnt know, and let me tell you, I fucking lord it all over him. How badly," she asks me, are you trying to fuck me over right now?, Interactive: The Lo-Fi Voices That Speak for AmericaBy M. Scott Mahaskey and Zack Stanton. I'm not saying that it affects him negatively, but it's an interesting question. They need to understand how the political process works. Its a local-politics mentality to find the people that are going to be telling this story, and if nothing else, making sure they have a real understanding of who you are. "[1], Presidential candidates will typically have a national staff, which is overseen by a campaign manager and assisted by political consultants, senior advisors, professional polling firms, and key stakeholders such as interest group leaders and major financial supporters. If you read through the many, many profiles written of presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in the past several months, its hard not to notice just how many reporters happen to have had personal encounters with the candidate, often months before he was in the headlines. But I dont know whats inside him. I was coming off some New York races where everything is just all-day personal attacks getting in the mud. And when he was asked about that, he gave a really strong answer, and he took responsibility for things he did do in South Bend or things he didnt do in South Bend. She uses her feed to, well, rapidly respond to the news. Smith: Oh, thats simple. And if people like me dont get involved, then Im scared about the future of our country. It takes the edge off a bit. Wren: Youre often credited with vaulting Pete from the mayor of Indianas fourth-largest city to a member of Bidens cabinet. In 2012 Lis directed President Barack Obama's rapid-response team for his re-election effort. But it was one of those moments where I had to go with my gut. I see Donald Trump win the White House, which like everyone else, Im flabbergasted. This section featured five news stories about Buttigieg and his presidential campaign. Whitney Whitis. (The rapid-response job, Smith says, was for her like being a pig in shit.

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